Children encouraged to give tennis a shot
The US Open trophy made a special appearance at a school in Edinburgh as part of a UK-wide trophy tour to celebrate Britain’s No.1 women’s singles player Emma Raducanu’s success at last year’s tournament.
Tennis Scotland is working alongside the LTA to deliver the US Open Trophy Tour as they aim to increase tennis participation and inspire young players to take to court across the United Kingdom and children at Broughton Primary School welcomed the trophy to their school for the Scotland leg of the tour yesterday (Friday, 13 May).
The morning’s activities included a special message for the pupils from Raducanu, followed by an on-court session delivered by an LTA Youth coach. During the trophy presentation, there were also opportunities for pupils and staff to have their pictures taken with the famous piece of silverware.
Emma is currently an ambassador for LTA Youth Schools and all the participating schools have signed up to deliver LTA Youth Schools for current pupils.
At just 18-years-old, Raducanu became the first British woman to win a Grand Slam singles title in 44 years and made tennis history when she became the first ever player to come through qualifying to win a Grand Slam title when she defeated Canada’s Leylah Fernandez 6-4 6-3 in New York.
Speaking about the tour, Emma Raducanu said, “I’m really excited to be teaming up with the LTA to take my US Open trophy on a tour of the country.
“All the schools we are taking the trophy to have played tennis as part of the LTA Youth Schools programme and my hope is that the trophy will inspire them to continue their tennis journey both inside and outside of school.”
Blane Dodds, Tennis Scotland Chief Executive, added, “The US Open trophy tour is the perfect opportunity to highlight Emma Raducanu’s incredible success and showcase the opportunities in tennis. We hope this tour will inspire younger players to keep working hard and follow in Emma’s footsteps.”
The schools part of the programme is delivered in Primary and Secondary Schools across the country, and offers free teacher training and content that has been specifically created to help address the nation’s challenge of declining physical literacy and activity among children.
The programme offers free teacher training and content that has been specifically created to help address the nation’s challenge of declining physical literacy and activity among children.
LTA Youth Schools is designed specifically for schools to support the curriculum and wider school outcomes. The programme brings together inclusive PE lesson plans, personal development resources, teacher training and much more. It’s all been designed by teachers, for teachers, and it’s all free.
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